Our minds are fascinating. People have been studying the brain, our thoughts, consciousness, and decision-making for centuries. Scientists, psychologists, and psychiatrists have made entire careers out of studying the mind in depth. Yet it seems we don’t know a whole lot more about how the mind works now than we did when modern science was in its infancy.

We know a lot more about the brain – what areas are related to what types of thoughts and behaviors – but the mind, how we think, believe, and decide, remains largely a mystery.

To us, that is. But not to the Sovereign Creator of our intricate, complex, marvelous bodies. He not only understands us completely, He has revealed much about the mind to us in His Word.​Because of this, we can examine not only different aspects of our minds and how they work, but we can also discover the keys to transforming our minds.

I’m assuming since you’re reading this book you have at least a remote interest in changing your life through changing your thoughts. This desire is major. So many people live in complete ignorance of how their thoughts affect their lives and/or don’t believe thoughts are important or that they can be changed. There isn’t an intentionality about life or paying attention to what goes on in or goes into the mind.That’s how I was for a long time. Never thinking about my thinking. I was that kid who just kind of bounced through life – both physically and emotionally. I never stopped to check things out, evaluate them, or plan them out. I just lived, reacting in the moment to what came in the moment. I had no idea that my thoughts mattered or that I didn’t have to just take them as they came. It was much later in life I learned the truths about our minds and began to think intentionally.

There are some circles, however, which put too much emphasis on our thoughts. There’s the belief and advocacy that if you simply change the way you think you can produce the life you want. You may have heard of or be familiar with some form of this concept: visualize, realize. In other words, if you can imagine yourself doing or accomplishing something enough, it will become reality.

Before we dive into this book, I’d like to say that this is not the premise of what we’re calling a transformed mind, nor is it accurate. Let me give you a few examples.

I’m a 40-year-old mom of four who’s working on becoming more fit, but not in the best shape of my life. I enjoy playing basketball and sometimes have a pick-up game with my son. However, no matter how much I may visualize myself as a professional WNBA player, it’s never going to happen. I also love to sing. A lot. I enjoy music, always have. However, no matter how much I envision myself being onstage performing in front of thousands of adoring fans, there’s not a chance on this earth that anyone would ever pay to hear me sing.

These are two extreme examples, but they’re valid. Just because you or I visualize ourselves doing something, that will not make it happen. Reality is tied to our thoughts and patterns of thinking in some ways, but not in the “visualize, realize” way.

So what’s the difference? And, as the title of this chapter asks, are our thoughts really that important anyway?

The answer to the first question will be revealed throughout the following pages.

The simple answer to the second question is yes, our thoughts are not only important, they have the capacity to change our lives.

We see this every day, if not in ourselves, in other people. Think of someone you know or a story you’ve heard of someone who’s been through great tragedy but lives life joyfully and peacefully. I met someone who exemplifies this recently. This young man got kicked out of his house at the age of seven (unfortunately in some cultures, this is not a unique phenomenon) and lived on the street until he was nineteen. He then was introduced to Jesus and lives a very joyful life. To see the almost constant smile on his face is very inspiring.

Now, think of someone you know or a story you’ve heard of someone who’s been through great tragedy but barely makes it day to day because the circumstances of their life have dragged them down. Most of us know people like this. Consider how these people talk and what they focus on. My bet is they talk negatively, long for lost things/people, and focus on the tragedy and hurtful circumstances. On the other hand, the one who’s joyful and peaceful talks of positive things, is thankful, and focuses on the better possibilities in life. These things are evidence of where each person’s thoughts dwell: either on the positive or the negative.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our thoughts are not only important, they have the capacity to change our lives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can you see the difference our thoughts make? People can face the same challenges, have the same hurts, and face the same obstacles in life, but how those things are thought about changes the way they live their life.

When I was in graduate school studying to be a counselor, the secular world of psychology was beginning to grasp a truth found frequently throughout scripture – there is an intrinsic link between our minds, bodies, and spirits. How we think affects our body and spirit; how we treat our body affects our mind and spirit (if you’re not eating any nutrients, your brain’s function is affected, and so is your energy to pursue God and His plans for your life); and whether and how we engage our spirit with its Creator affects our thoughts and often the health of our bodies. These three aspects of who we are are inseparable.

Our thoughts have a huge, almost disproportionate, impact on the other parts. It is with our minds that our decisions are led. It is with our minds that we acknowledge or ignore God. It is with our minds that we come up with words that either feed into or detract from others’ lives. It’s with our minds we create, discover, learn, and decide.

The importance of our thoughts and how they affect our lives is clear throughout scripture. God relates our thoughts to our ability to live faithfully and obediently. He also intimately links our thoughts (minds) with our heart. The Word tells us that He places enough importance on our hearts and minds to examine and search them out in each of us.

“I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 ~ Hebrews 8:10

Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. Psalm 26:2

There are many, many other verses that relate our thoughts/minds to our hearts and actions. Each of these show how important our thoughts are to God and to our lives. What we think matters – immensely.(If you have the time, I recommend doing a word search using a free resource like www.biblegateway.com. It’s a huge blessing to dig into the Word this way and see themes emerge in scripture you may not have noticed before.)

How we think is also ultimately important, as is the emphasis we put on our thinking.

One thing I brought up above, one question I asked, was: Does it matter how we view our thinking and what its role is in our lives?

The contradiction between the power of thinking a certain way to get certain results (visualize, realize thinking) and the fact that our thoughts lead us to action, was touched on a few pages ago.

There are many in our culture who hold positive thinking in high regards. As we’ll talk about and discover together, there is much to be said for thinking positively. However, the “power of positive thinking” can be a deadly trap. While it may help people live more optimistic, affirming, and confident lives, it doesn’t lead them to living God-centered, God-directed, holy lives. Thinking positively does not change your eternal destination.

As believers in Jesus as Lord and our eternal life in heaven being already set, the latter kind of living is what we’re called to.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be optimistic, affirming, and confident, but none of these should come from ourselves. Positive thinking has always been and is always going to be about us – having the best life we want, fulfilling our dreams, obtaining what we desire, etc. It fills our minds with ways of getting the things in this life that we want. It lends towards self-focused, self-service thinking instead of the self-sacrificial, serving others in love mindset God calls us to.

Having our minds tuned into God and His Word, however, will lead us to live the life God desires us to live. Tells us to live. Died for us to live.

The theory of positive thinking, which isn’t just found in the culture around us, but has also infiltrated the church, may have some beneficial results for us and possibly even some for those around us, but it does not impact eternity. Nor does it lead us to obedience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having our minds tuned into God and His Word will lead us to live the life God desires us to live. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other hand, if we are intentional about what we think, what we fill our minds with, where we let our thoughts go, and we intentionally fill them with things of God, we will naturally live a life that goes far beyond what we experience here on earth and will impact not only our eternity, but others as well.Pursuing what we want, thinking how we want, living how we want separates us from God.

…among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:3

Following the desires of our minds separates us from God. That’s what this scripture, and many others, reveal. Even if we don’t realize it. That’s why the answer to the question of whether we should be mindful of our minds and thoughts is yes.

Perhaps you’re thinking right now: Isn’t this all too much thinking about thinking? We just got really serious, really fast, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. All I wanted was a way to change the way I think about things so I can live a better life and be happier. Isn’t there some simple formula you can give me without getting so deep?

There are innumerable books available to help you “think better” or “be more positive.” This isn’t one of those.

What is offered in these pages is infinitely more valuable.

The insights found in this book have the power to change your thinking, and thus your life, in ways you haven’t even begun to imagine because they go beyond common knowledge or wisdom.

Pause for a moment and picture the best life you could ever come up with. Feel the pleasure, the contentment, the beauty, the accomplishment. Soak it all in. Now take that and multiply it by a thousand. There you go. It’s hard to imagine, but you can do it. Once you’ve magnified and multiplied it so greatly, you’ve finally arrived at a glimpse of what your life could be. A test taste. An appetizer. A preview. But truly, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what God offers in a life that’s fully committed, devoted to, and surrendered to Him. Not even close.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

God has a great life planned for each one of us. However, it is in the choosing to love Him that we see that life fulfilled. Choosing to love Him with…

…all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27)

Did you catch that? Loving God with all of our mind was slipped right in there. If we aren’t intentional about our thoughts – how we think about ourselves, other people, life, our circumstances, and God – how can we ever possibly love Him with all of our mind?

We can’t. Without being mindful of our minds, we will never fully realize the greatest love and calling on our lives. And from just the glimpses I’ve gotten, I don’t want to miss out.

Just in case all the above isn’t motivation enough, there is one more reason to be mindful of our thoughts: God is mindful of them.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:2

God discerns our thoughts. That alone is reason enough to be mindful of our thoughts. I cringe at all the insignificant, irreverent, and selfish things I’ve allowed not only to enter my mind, but stay there, set up house, and decorate.

God knows every detail of our lives – the desires of our hearts, the number of hairs on our heads, and every hurt. But He also discerns our every thought. Our thinking matters that much to Him, because He designed us in a way that our thinking is the foundation of how our lives go – at least how we react to things and make decisions. Therefore, being aware of and purposeful about our minds is essential to living the life God desires us to live.

This doesn’t mean we have to think about our thinking all the time, but throughout this book you will learn how to cultivate a continual transforming of the mind that will become natural. I won’t promise easy, because God never promised easy. However, the things He has promised are more than worth the time, effort, and energy you’ll spend on cultivating a mindset that will lead to you not only to better thinking, but a life better than you could have ever imagined.

Before we close out this initial chapter, I’d like to talk to those of you who may be struggling with some really big, really hard, perhaps even devastating, stuff. While some people may be thinking this all got too serious, you may be questioning whether it will be serious enough. Whether a small book, written in somewhat of a casual format could really address the issues you’re going through. Is it even possible to change your thinking in your situation? Will it make a difference? After all, you’re in a place where you can’t do anything to change your circumstances, or don’t know how to handle your circumstances, or are just so broken. You’re having a hard time getting your mind to even focus on the words in front of you.I’d like to assure you that there is something in these pages for you. Even if you can grasp onto one truth shared in these pages that helps you make it from today to tomorrow, that’s enough.

I learned many years ago, and am reminded all too often, how very painful this life is. There are things that come at us from seemingly nowhere. Divorce. Death. Drug addiction. Diagnoses. Doubt. Depression. Disaster.

There are things that go so far beyond our understanding of the world and God that we can scarcely comprehend them. Just to get our minds wrapped around them seems nearly impossible. However, they are a part of the fallen world in which we live. When they happen, how we think about them, where our frame of mind is, will make a huge impact on how we cope with, go through, and come out of these things.So, if you’re concerned that your problem is too big for a little book about changing the way we think, I ask that you hang in for a while. And know, that as I write these words, as I pray for those who will read this book, that your pain is not forgotten or unknown. No matter what your situation, circumstances, or where you are in life, the truths included in this book will make a difference to you and your life because they are truths based on God’s perfect, good, loving nature and Word.

My hope is that you read these truths, pray over them, and utilize them to help transform your mind as you learn to…